Costa Rica prohibits export of three species of hammerhead shark fins, meat for one year

The great hammerhead is one of the species under moratorium.
(Photo: Albert Kok – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Creative Commons)

October 23^rd, 2015 (ICR News) Based on the recommendation of the Scientific Committee of the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC), Costa Rica will impose a one-year moratorium on the export of fins and meat of three species of hammerhead sharks.

The prohibition on the meat and fins of the three species: the scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini), the great hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran), and the smooth hammerhead (Sphyrna zygaena), applies only to exports, and does not apply domestically.

The 12-month moratorium is intended to provide time to gather information regarding the size and condition of the species’ population to ensure the species’ commercial sustainability, according to La Nacion.

The commercial fishing of sharks is legal in Costa Rica, so long as sharks are landed with their fins still attached.

Earlier this month, in a move that was widely condemned by numerous conservation groups, the government of Costa Rican president, Luis Guillermo Solis promised the commercial fishing sector that it would “not propose or support” the inclusion of shark species with “commercial interest” to be protected in Costa Rican waters under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), regardless if such species are threatened or endangered.